In saucepan, bring vinegar and Manawa honey to boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer, giving it a stir every few minutes until reduced to 3/4 cup (175 mL), about 15 minutes.

Mix cornflour with water and stir into glaze and boil until thickened, about 1 minute. Let cool and store in a sealed container in the fridge for up to one (1) month.

Herb Meatloaf with Tomato Sauce

A classic dinner favourite that can be made ahead of time and re-heated when its time for dinner. Any leftovers are great for lunch the next day or as a brunch on Sunday morning with a nice seasonal salad on the side.

In a large bowl combine all of the meatloaf ingredients and combine well. Roll into shape, cover and rest in the fridge for a couple of hours.

In a pot heat the oil on the stove on medium and add the onion. Cook the onion for 5-10 minutes until they are soft. Add the garlic and dried chillies and cook stirring for another 2-3 minutes.

Season with salt and pepper to taste and add the tomato, paste herbs and stock. Increase the heat and bring to a boil. Reduce and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. The sauce can be made ahead and stored, sealed in the fridge for a couple of days until needed.

Take the meatloaf from the fridge and rest for 30 minutes to come to room temperature.

Preheat oven to 170C. Place the loaf in a high sided oven dish and cook for 20-25 minutes. Remove from the oven and remove any fats and oils that have come out of the loaf.

Cover with the sauce and cook in the oven for another 15-20 minutes. Remove and rest for 5 minutes and serve with your choice of sides.

Batch10 Honey Bourbon BBQ Sauce

3/4 cup (190ml) Batch10 Honey Bourbon

1/2 onion, minced fine (grating the onion works well)

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 cups tomato sauce

1/4 cup tomato paste

1/3 cup (80ml) cider vinegar

1/4 cup (60ml) Worcestershire sauce

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 tablespoon salt

1/2 cup (110g) packed brown sugar

1/3 teaspoon Tabasco sauce, or to taste

In a large saucepan over medium heat on your stove combine the onion, garlic and Batch10.

Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 20 minutes. Run sauce through a strainer or blitz with a stick blender for a smooth sauce.

Bottle in sterilized class and store in fridge.

Sweet Balsamic Caramelized Onions

Caramelized onions are an easy and inexpensive addition to so many meals and can be made ahead of time. This recipe offers a sweet and slightly herby flavour without the addition of additional sugar using two ingredients that I love.

Add the onions and season with salt. Stir constantly until the liquid evaporates from the onions. You must stir so the onions don’t steam in their own juices otherwise they will not caramelize. This takes about 15 minutes.

Reduce the heat to a medium low, add the thyme and Jomei’s Sweet Balsamic Reduction, stir well and cook an additional 20-25 minutes, stirring frequently, until the onions are a rich golden brown.

Scale this recipe to your own needs. I double this and cook in a larger skillet making as many batches as required.

Passionfruit Hot Sauce

Passionfruit works well with large chillies in this sauce and I use this recipe as a dipping sauce with BBQ’d or grilled chicken skewers, nibbles or wings. Its great as a starter and you can add the level of chilli for hotness that suits you.

I also use this recipe as a baste to finish a roast chicken, basting for the last 30 minutes of cooking.

The sauce colour will vary depending on the colour of the chillies you use.

Simmer the whole chillies in water for about 10 minutes and then drain and cool in cold water.

Remove the skins, seeds and veins and place in a blender with the passionfruit juice, oil, zest and lime juice and pulse until you have a smooth sauce.

Season with salt to taste.

Place in a jar and rest for a few hours before using or store in the fridge for upto 3 days.

Note: The sauce has a slight sharp edge due to no added sugar. If you want a sweeter sauce add some honey, 1-2 tbsp to the ingredients before you blend.

Scallops and Mushrooms with Passion Fruit Vinaigrette

Scallops and Mushrooms with Passion Fruit Vinaigrette served on Parsnip Purée.

Combined recipes serves 4 as a starter.

This is a wonderful time of the year, harvest season and New Zealand grown passion fruit are one of my loved produce.

The first thing we have to make is the passion fruit vinaigrette as it develops while its resting.

If you like you can use pulp from whole passion fruits with the pips in for added crunch and texture. I like the vinaigrette this way. If you don’t them, the seeds then place the pulp from the fruit in a fine sieve over a bowl and with the back of teaspoon pass the pulp through the sieve into the bowl.

In a medium sized pot over a medium heat add the milk, parsnip and bay leaf and bring to a simmer. When the parsnip is cooked, about ten minutes transfer parsnip and half the milk into a blender, pulse a few time, season with sea salt & freshly ground pepper, then add extra virgin olive oil and pulse. Leave to rest in warm place.

Rinse the scallops and dry them thoroughly. Place them between two layers of paper towels, pat dry, and repeat with fresh towels. It’s very important to make sure the scallops are completly dry so when they hit the heat they will caramelise and develop great colour. If they are too damp they will poach in the oil and butter. Set aside.

Brush the mushrooms with a pastry brush to remove any earthy bits that may be clinging to them. This is the best way to clean them, for they will retain all of their earthy flavour.

Delicately trim off the earthy bottoms off the mushroom stems, retaining as much of each mushroom as possible. Slice the largest mushrooms in half.

Heat 1 tsp of olive oil on a medium high heat in a large, heavy-bottomed skillet or frypan. Add the mushrooms and sauté over high heat, stirring very gently. Cook for about 3 minutes until they begin to release their juices. Add a pinch of salt and grind in some black pepper, stir and set aside in a warm bowl with all the juices from the skillet. Give the skillet a quick wipe, no need to wash.

Assemble the minced garlic and chopped parsley on a small plate next to the stove.

Heat the remaining 2 tsp of olive oil in the heavy-bottomed frying pan. When it;s hot but not smoking add the butter. Let it melt, combine with the oil and then add the scallops.

Allow the scallops to sear over high heat for one minute, not much longer. Do not disturb them while they are cooking as we want them to develop wonderful colour.

Flip them over after 1 minute, they should have a nice golden brown colour on the side tat was on the heat. Cook the same was for one minute. Add the minced garlic and cook for 30 seconds to allow the garlic to release a sweet flavour. We don’t want to cook the garlic on heat for too long.

Add the cooked mushrooms and allow them to heat through for another minute. Turn off the heat and.

Add the chopped parsley and Passion Fruit Vinaigrette and stir to combine, gently. We want to ensure the vinaigrette coats all of the ingredients but not stiring it to a point where the mushrooms break apart.
On warmed plates spread a heaped tbsp of the still warm parsnip purée. Arrange portions of the scallops on top of the parsnip purée. When all of the plates are prepared spread and drizzle the rest of the mushrooms and juices over the plates.

Serve immediately, accompanied by a side salad of diced fresh tomatoes and mixed salad greens that have been seasoned with some fresh chopped basil and olive oil.

Stuffed Rolled Chicken Breast

Serves 1

Ingredients

1 chicken breast

2 strips of bacon, prosciutto or Ham

½ cup Provolone cheese or any strong hard cheese

1/2 onion (chopped and caramelized )

1/2 cup mushrooms (chopped and caramelized.)

1/2 cup plain flour of choice

Salt and black pepper (to taste)

plastic wrap (for rolling)

3 Brussel sprouts

4 asparagus spears

1/2 teaspoon minced garlic

1 teaspoon butter

1 cup strawberries (cut into smaller pieces)

1/2 cup mangoes (diced)

1/4 cup honey

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

salt/pepper to taste

Olive oil

Method

Place your chicken breast between two layers of plastic wrap or in between a ziploc bag that have had a little water sprinkled over.

Using a meat mallet, (or any thing with a flat surface and some weight to it) make the chicken breast flatter. Take care when beating the meat that the breast does not tear.

When the breast is flat and wide, season with salt and black pepper.

Stuff with all your favorite things. I used bacon, provolone cheese, mushrooms and onions that I caramelized and some chopped basil.

Chop Brussels sprouts and asparagus into small pieces. In a pan over a medium high heat add butter and minced garlic. Stirring allow to brown for 2 minutes then add chopped veggies and cook for 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Place in a bowl with the cheese, mushrooms and onions and mix to combine. Place the mixture near one end of the flattened chicken breast and roll the roulade into its shape using plastic wrap and tie the ends. Place in a large pot of lightly simmering water and cook for 20 minutes.

Sauce

Place sugar and 1 cup of water in a pan over a medium heat and stir until all the sugar has melted. Add the strawberries and mango. Mash them while you stir and simmer for 10 minutes or until you get a jam like substance. Allow to cool.

In a sauce pan over a medium heat add 1 teaspoon oil, half a diced shallot and allow to brown. Add balsamic vinegar and apple cider and allow to reduce by 1/3. Strain in the strawberry-mango jam and stir. Allow to simmer for 5 minutes and reduce heat to low to keep sauce warm. Stir occasionally.

Remove after 20 minutes and place in an ice bath. We want to stop the cooking straight away.

Pre-heat oven to 175 C (350 F)

When the roulade is completely cool mix flour with salt and pepper on a plate. Remove roulade from plastic wrap, coat in flour and place into a pan over a medium heat and lightly coat with olive oil. Cook turning till it is browned all over.

Place the roulade in the pre-heated oven in a low sided tray and bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and rest for 5 minutes.

Place the pork fillet and marinade in a Ziplock bag and let marinate for at least 3-4 hours.

Preheat oven to 175C (350F).

In a proof skillet over medium-high heat add the reserved olive oil and sear each side of tenderloin for 2-3 minutes. Place in the oven and cook for 30-40 minutes or until the meat is cooked. Remove from the skillet, cover with foil and rest 10 minutes.

Place the skillet back on the stove over medium heat. Add the chicken broth and scrape up all the browned pieces from the bottom of the pan. Add the marinade and let it boil down for 2-3 minutes. Add the butter and remove from heat stirring until butter has melted.

Slice the pork and pour the sauce over it and serve.

20 Minute Shrimp Curry

I have lived in several Asian countries over the years and this dish is a mix of so many of the flavours that I love. I have also cooked this with chunky pieces of crab meat and Monk fish, great result.

I have also made the sauce and let it rest for a few hours before heating it up and cooking the fish.

This recipe may be easily prepared in 20 minutes which is just enough time to cook the rice if you feel like it. You can also have this as it is.

Stir in shrimp and cook until they turn pink and are just cooked through. Stir in coriander. Taste to adjust seasoning and serve immediately in bowls with basmati rice or fresh steamed vegetable greens for low carb or paleo.